Preparing for emergencies
For more comprehensive glossaries please see:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
AAIB
Air Accidents Investigation Branch
ABTA
Association of British Travel Agents
ATOC
Represents train companies to the government, regulatory bodies, the media
and other opinion formers on transport policy issues. It is the co-ordinator
of joint activities for train operators, and is responsible for managing
revenue allocation and settlement, impartial retailing, National Rail Enquiries,
railcard marketing, staff travel arrangements, international products, travel
agent licensing, and for facilitating common train operator positions on
many engineering and operational issues.
ATOL
Air Travel Organisers' Licensing
Business Continuity
The ability to maintain operations/services in the face of a disruptive
event.
Business Continuity Management (BCM)
A management process that helps manage the risks to the smooth running of
an organisation or delivery of a service, ensuring that it can operate to
the extent required in the event of a disruption.
Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
A documented set of procedures and information intended to deliver continuity
of critical functions in the event of a disruption.
Capabilities Programme
The core framework through which the Government is seeking to build Resilience across
all parts of the United Kingdom. It consists of 18
Capability workstreams [External website]. Three of these
are structural, dealing with the national, regional and local response capabilities.
Five workstreams relate to the maintenance of essential services: food, water,
fuel, transport, health, financial services. The other nine are functional:
assessment of risks/consequences; CBRN resilience;
human infectious diseases; animal/plant infectious diseases; mass casualties;
mass fatalities; mass evacuation; site clearance; warning/informing the public.
Capability
Originally a military term which includes the aspects of personnel, equipment,
training, planning and operational doctrine. Now used to mean a demonstrable
capacity or ability to respond to and recover from a particular threat or
hazard.
Category 1 Responder
A person or body listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Civil Contingencies
Act. These bodies are likely to be at the core of the response to most emergencies.
As such, they are subject to the full range of civil protection duties in
the Act. Examples of Category 1 responders include the emergency services
and local authorities.
Category 2 Responder
A person or body listed in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Civil Contingencies
Act. These are co-operating responders who are less likely to be involved
in the heart of multi-agency planning work, but will be heavily involved
in preparing for incidents affecting their sectors. The Act requires them
to co-operate and share information with other Category 1 and 2 responders.
Examples of Category 2 responders include utilities and transport companies.
CBRN
Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear. Chemical, biological and
radiological incidents involve both the release of the corresponding material
and threats, hoaxes and false alarms. A nuclear incident would involve the
detonation of a nuclear weapon or an improvised nuclear device.
Civil Contingencies Act
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 establishes a single framework for civil
protection in the United Kingdom. Part 1 of the Act establishes a clear set
of roles and responsibilities for local responders. Part 2 modernises the
emergency powers framework in the United Kingdom.
Civil Contingencies Committee (CCC)
Committee of Ministers, chaired by Home Secretary, convened so Government
can oversee a major emergency and safeguard provision of essential supplies
and services. Representatives of the relevant emergency services and agencies
also attend.
Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS)
The Cabinet Office Secretariat which provides the central focus for the
cross-departmental and cross-agency commitment, co-ordination and co-operation
that will enable the UK to deal effectively with disruptive challenges and
crises.
Civil Protection
Preparedness to deal with a wide range of emergencies from localised flooding
to terrorist attack.
CMO
Chief Medical Officer
COMAH
Control of Major Accident Hazards regulations. They apply mainly to the
chemical industry, but also to some storage, explosives and nuclear sites,
and other facilities which use or keep dangerous substances. www.hse.gov.uk/comah/index.htm [External
website]
DBERR
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
DCSF
Department for Children, Schools and Families
DEFRA
Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Devolved Administrations
Consist of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
DFID
Department for International Development
DOP(IT)
Cabinet Committee dealing with Defence & Overseas Policy, Sub-Committee
on International Terrorism. Its branches are chaired by the Home Secretary.
Emergency
An event of situation that threatens serious damage to human welfare in
a place in the UK or to the environment of a place in the UK, or war or terrorism
which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK. To constitute an
emergency this event or situation must require the implementation of special
arrangements by one or more Category
1 responder.
Emergency Planning (EP)
Development and maintenance of agreed procedures to prevent, reduce, control,
mitigate and take other actions in the event of an emergency.
Emergency Planning College (EPC)
Part of the Civil
Contingencies Secretariat [External website]. The Government's
centre of excellence for crisis management and emergency planning, at Easingwold
in Yorkshire. www.epcollege.gov.uk/ [External
website]
Emergency Planning Society
The Emergency
Planning Society [External website] is the professional
body for all those professionals with an involvement in emergency planning,
crisis and disaster management. The membership is drawn from a wide range
of backgrounds, including local government, industry, the utilities, the
emergency services, volunteers, educational establishments, the legal profession
and independent consultants.
Exercise
A simulation to validate an emergency plan or business continuity plan,
rehearse key staff or test systems and procedures.
FCO
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
FTA
Freight Transport Association
FTO
Federation of Tour Operators
Government Offices for the Regions
These work on behalf of a range of Departments in key policy areas. There
are nine such offices in England. Each includes the relevant Regional
Resilience Team. Government
Offices for the Regions website [External website]
Hazard
An accidental or naturally occurring event or situation with the potential
to cause physical (or psychological) harm to members of the community (including
loss of life), damage or losses to property, and/or disruption to the environment
or to structures (economic, social, political) upon which a community's way
of life depends.
Health & Safety Executive (HSE)
Agency whose job is to help its parent organisation, the Health & Safety
Commission, protect people's health and safety. HSE ensures risks are properly
controlled, in factories, mines, farms, hospitals, schools, nuclear installations
and other workplaces. Local authorities answer to the HSC for enforcement
in offices, shops and other parts of the services sector. www.hse.gov.uk/ [External
website]
Health Protection Agency (HPA)
Established in 2003. Its role is to advise Government on public health protection
policies, and deliver rapid response to health protection emergencies, including
the deliberate release of biological, chemical, poison or radioactive substances.
It subsumed the former Public Health Laboratory Service. HPA staff include
public health experts, specialists in infection control, epidemiologists,
microbiologists etc.
www.hpa.org.uk/ [External
website]
HPA "deliberate
release" homepage [External website]
HPA
matrix of major Biological Agents (characteristics and treatment): [External
website]
Health of Wales Information Service (HOWIS)
A gateway to information on organisations and services provided by the National
Health Service (NHS) within Wales.
Local Resilience Area
The Civil Contingencies Act requires Category
1 and 2 responders to co-operate with other Category 1 and 2 responders
in their Local Resilience Area. Each Local Resilience Area (with the exception
of London) is based on a police area. The principal mechanism for multi-agency
co-operation is the Local
Resilience Forum.
Local Resilience Forum (LRF)
A process for bringing together all the Category
1 and 2 responders within a local police area for the purpose of facilitating
co-operation in fulfillment of their duties under the Civil Contingencies
Act.
Local Responder
An organisation that responds to emergencies at the local level. These may
include Category 1 and 2 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act and
other organisations not covered by the Act.
MAIB
Marine Accident Investigation Branch
MASTA
Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad. Provides travel health advice
on vaccines and immunisations as well as malaria and yellow fever prevention.
National Voluntary Aid Society Emergency Committee (NVASEC)
Provides a UK-wide forum for addressing voluntary sector matters in respect
of national integrated contingency planning. It comprises representatives
of the three Voluntary Aid Societies (VAS): the British Red Cross Society
(BRCS) (chairing), St. John's Ambulance and St. Andrew's Ambulance. Representatives
from the Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS), the Department of Health,
Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defence are also invited.
OFGEM
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
OFWAT
The economic regulator for the water and sewerage industry in England and
Wales
PITO
Police Information Technology Organisation. Provides information technology
and communication systems to the police service and criminal justice organisations
in the UK.
Protective Security
The safeguarding of physical and personnel welfare or information.
Regional Resilience Forum (RRF)
A forum established by a Government Office to discuss civil protection issues
from the regional perspective and to create a stronger link between local
and central government on resilience issues.
Regional Resilience Team (RRT)
A small team of civil servants within a Government
Office for the Region working on civil protection issues, headed by
a Regional Resilience Director.
Resilience
The ability of the community, services or infrastructure to withstand the
consequences of an incident.
RHA
Road Haulage Association
ROSPA
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Security Service (MI5)
The UK's domestic intelligence and security agency. www.mi5.gov.uk/ [External
website]
SHOW
Scotland's Health on the Web - Online health information provided by NHS
Scotland.
TUC
Trades Union Congress
UK Resilience
Main website for information on Resilience issues
and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat. Maintained by the Cabinet Office. www.ukresilience.info/ [External
website]
Voluntary Sector
Bodies, other than public authorities or local authorities, that carry out
activities otherwise than for profit.
WHO
World Health Organisation